From September to December, many of my thoughts related to my early decision college application. Now that my admission to NYU is assured, I am thrust into a new period of expectancy. In my first half of senior year, I faced the tasks of writing an admissions essay, collecting recommendation forms, and sending standardized test scores; now, in this second semester as graduation approaches, I face the challenge of concluding senior year courses. The end is in sight, yet I often feel mixed emotions: impatient to finish high school and excited to begin the college phase. But I'm also sad that this is my last few months of being a normal high schooler before I tackle the demands of the next four years.

These days, with a college acceptance letter firmly in hand, I easily lapse into day dreams, imagining myself as an empowered college student, studying great literature, striding through dim halls echoing with prestige and scholarship, my arms full of abstruse, ancient texts. I weave through crowds of upper classmen with confidence and poise. I navigate to and from residence halls, internships, and classes with ease. In college discussion groups, I present arguments with clarity and aplomb. I balance a thriving social life with academic accomplishment. I do my laundry, remembering to separate whites from colors. I refrain from tears whenever I think of my yellow Labrador, at home without me.

Then the imaginative bubble of collegiate confidence bursts. I realize my subordinate status as a high school senior. Instead of staring across a crowd of attentive heads in a crowded lecture hall, absorbing the profound insights of a prestigious professor, I'm staring at a bleak stack of physics and history texts and confronted with a half-undone research paper on Thomas Jefferson. I hold a college acceptance letter in my hand; but, I realize with a sinking feeling, I lack a high school graduation diploma.

Senior year's second semester is not a free ride; nor should it be. I have heard rumors of students suffering from senioritis and have wondered if I would experience it, too. Granted, I am more impatient to finish my courses than I have ever been before. And to my chagrin, my course load has not diminished. Sometimes I wonder: Why am I taking three AP classes? Does Physics have applicability to my future interests in literature or art history? Should I cut back on my extracurriculars? I've already been accepted to college, after all. Why the continued effort?

But my parents assure me that this semester will prepare me for the heavier demands of college. They remind me that in college I will be able to devote more time to topics I'm truly interested in. And in my more rational moments, I do see the importance of a challenging course of study in senior year. Just as I've heard the rumors of senioritis, I've also heard the horror stories, few but existent, of students rejected from college when second-semester grades fall. Clearly, slacking off is dangerous, not only because of the threat of rejection, but also because of personal cost. Senior year is just as important as previous years for college preparation, if not more so, because the habits I establish now I will use in college. Though it's difficult, at least I can remind myself that dealing with distractions now is preparation for later. I can be sure distractions in college will be greater and the necessity for balance and perseverance larger.

In a paradoxical way, it is a comfort to realize that the challenges of senior year do not miraculously terminate when a college acceptance letter arrives. Seeing the end in sight has a motivating influence. Although I no longer worry about applications or standardized test results, other things now occupy my time. Through it all, I want to remember to retain my focus on finishing high school successfully while still enjoying its last phase. These are, after all, the last few months I'll be living at home, juggling a normal high school schedule of extracurriculars, volunteering, and academics. Most of the time I'm at a loss on how to describe this transition: Exhilarating? Daunting? I think it's a mixture of both. Although the challenges of second semester remain, the end is also in sight, and the beginning of my college years shines bright.